Effects of swim-with-dolphin tourism on the behaviour of a threatened species, the Burrunan dolphin Tursiops Australis

Burrunan dolphins Tursiops australis are frequently targeted by tourism operations in Port Phillip Bay, Australia. This study aimed to provide first insights into whether swim-with-dolphin (SWD) vessels in Port Phillip Bay affect the behaviour of Burrunan dolphins via the use of Markov chain models. The presence of SWD vessels affected dolphins' travelling, foraging, milling and socialising behaviours. The time dolphins spent foraging in the presence of SWD vessels was significantly reduced, with average foraging bout length decreasing by 13.6%, foraging recovery time increasing by 47.6%, and the probability of transitioning from foraging to milling increasing 4-fold. Conversely, dolphins spent significantly more time milling and socialising in the presence of SWD vessels. The reduction in time spent foraging when SWD vessels are present could lead to a decrease in dolphins' rate of energy acquisition, whilst the increase in milling could increase their energy expenditure. Collectively, this may lead to reduced biological fitness with population level consequences. However, although the short-term behavioural budget of the dolphin population was significantly affected, SWD vessels did not significantly affect the cumulative (i.e. yearly) behavioural budget of Burrunan dolphins. Thus, the assumption that boat-based cetacean tourism has major negative effects on targeted populations may be flawed in some cases

Microbial implications associated with stomach flushing of little penguins

The stomach flushing technique is a vital tool in bird dietary studies. The technique requires a tube to be inserted into the penguin's mouth and passed through the oesophagus to the stomach. General practice does not include cleaning of the tube between penguins. This report investigates if the stomach flushing tube can be a vehicle to transmit potential pathogens from a sick penguin to a healthy penguin, and if implementation of aseptic or disinfection practice is warranted in the stomach flushing technique. A total of 19 tubes from 19 penguins were examined for bacterial presence from May until August 2007. This paper presents new recommendations for stomach flushing procedures from a microbial perspective to ensure that birds subjected to this are not jeopardised by practices that may promote the transfer of potential pathogens from one penguin to another

Recent Advances in Whale-Watching Research: 2012–2013

Whale-watching research encompasses a wide variety of disciplines and fields of study, including monitoring the biological impacts of whale-watching activities on cetaceans and assessments of the effectiveness of whale-watching management and regulations, to the sociological and economic aspects of whale watching on communities hosting such activities. This article is the latest in a series of annual digests, which describes the variety and findings of whale-watching studies published over the past year, since June 2012.</jats:p

Recent Advances in Whale-Watching Research: 2009-2010

Whale-watching research encompasses a wide variety of disciplines and fields of study, including monitoring the biological impacts of whale-watching activities on cetaceans and assessments of the effectiveness of whale-watching management and regulations, to the sociological and economic aspects of whale watching on communities hosting such activities. This article is the latest in a series of annual digests, which describes the variety and findings of whale-watching studies published over the past year, since June 2009

Compliance with regulations by "swim-with-dolphins" operations in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia

Managing the activities of commercial wildlife viewing tends to involve either restricting the number of industry participants and/or regulating the activities or industry participants. We report on operator compliance with regulations regarding humans swimming with free-ranging bottlenose dolphins Tursiops sp.) in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia. A total of 128 commercial dolphin-swim trips was studied between September 1998 and April 2000. Four permit conditions were investigated: approach type, swim time, time in proximity of dolphins, and presence of “fetal fold” calves. Results demonstrate noncompliance by operators to all of the four permit conditions studied. Compliance with temporal conditions was poorer than with other conditions. When conducting studies on the extent to which tourism affects cetaceans, investigators should consider whether tourist operations comply with existing regulations or guidelines

Does Grey Nurse Shark (Carcharias taurus) Diving Tourism Promote Biocentric Values Within Participants?

In Australia, humans can dive with critically endangered grey nurse sharks (Carcharias taurus) at Fish Rock, New South Wales. This industry has the potential to improve the environmental knowledge of participants and encourage pro-environmental attitudes within tourists. This study surveyed tourists pre and post participation in grey nurse shark dives to ascertain if the experience positively influenced the grey nurse shark knowledge and biocentric attitudes of tourists (short-term). Educational talks were provided to tourists of alternating boat trips to assess if education had a significant impact upon the knowledge and biocentrism of these tourists compared with those that were not provided with a talk. Survey data were collected across eight grey nurse shark dive boat trips from December 2008 to January 2009. Results indicated that those individuals likely to participate in a grey nurse shark dive were generally already knowledgeable and biocentric, hence the scope for further improvement was quite narrow. Significant improvements to the grey nurse shark knowledge and biocentric attitudes of tourists post dive were detected, however the majority of these improvements occurred within tourists already considered to be highly biocentric and knowledgeable pre dive experience. The provision of educational talks significantly improved the knowledge of participants but not their biocentrism. These findings are of importance as they highlight that the contribution the industry may provide to conservation by improving the biocentric attitudes and environmental knowledge of tourists may be minimal. Furthermore, it is important that accurate educational resources are developed and provided to tourists pre and post dive to avoid the development of misconceptions by tourists during grey nurse shark dives